Yow makes good first impression

Click the photo above to see more pictures from Friday's press conference via the N&O.

Debbie Yow made her first remarks as NC State’s director of athletics Friday a little after 2, and from initial reaction most people were quite pleased with what they heard. The straight talking Yow talked openly about her goals for NC State athletics and did not mince words about those goals being accomplished. She talked some about the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk. The walk is yet to come, but she certainly gets an A+ in the talking department.

Debbie Yow Audio

Yow’s journey technically will not begin until July 15, but she seems ready to get the ball rolling on here goals for NC State.

Another interesting portion of today’s press conference was the question and answer session between the assembled media and Yow. Bobby Purcell came up more than once and both Yow and Chancellor Randy Woodson had to answer some tough questions about the process of her hire.

It turns out that Yow was not on the list of six candidates handed Chancellor Woodson by the search committee headed by Smedes York. Woodson said Yow was always on “his list” but that when someone of Yow’s stature is involved in a search there has to be a certain level of privacy that could not be guaranteed by a search committee. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Woodson on that matter, the end seems to have justified the means, at least for now.

There is a lot more to learn about Debbie Yow and her goals for NC State, something that I’m sure will take place throughout the rest of the summer. Yow has a reputation for being tough but fair and also is known for being fairly open with new media (including message boards). Despite knowing so much about the Yow family, Debbie is somewhat of an unknown entity for some Wolfpack fans. It will be interesting to learn more about her. The following is a clip from an interview conducted after the press conference concluded. Yow and Woodson made themselves available to the media in attendance for a good thirty minutes following the press conference.

More Yow Audio

Below are some bulleted points from Debbie Yow’s contract, which was included in the media packet handed out prior to Friday’s press conference.

  • Yow’s initial contract begins July 15,2010 and will run through July 14, 2015. She will be evaluated annually by Chancellor Randy Woodson.
  • Yow’s base salary will be $350,000 with the opportunity for bonus money based on performance

Football Bonus Opportunities (they are not cumulative)

  • $50,000 if the football team wins the ACC Championship
  • $25,o00 if the football team finishes the regular season in second, third or fourth place
  • $15,000 if the football team finished in fifth or sixth place
  • $100,000 if the football team wins the National Championship

Men’s and Women’s Basketball Bonus Opportunities

  • $25,000 if the team wins the ACC regular season championship
  • $10,000 if the team wins the ACC Tournament
  • $20,000 if the team participates in the NCAA Tournament (years 1-3) and $15,000 in years four through five
  • $25,000 if the team participates in the Final Four
  • $50,000 if the team is named National Champions

Other Bonus Opportunities

  • $5,000 if a varsity team wins an ACC regular season championship
  • $2,500 if a varsity team participates in a post-season NCAA competition
  • $10,000 if a varsity sports team wins an NCAA Championship

There are also opportunities for Yow to earn bonuses based on APR numbers and Directors Cup standings. Woodson referenced the importance of both of those ratings several times during Friday’s press conference and interviews.

Here’s a complete list of Yow’s duties as director of athletics in her contract. Some of these are paraphrased to keep heads from spinning.

  1. Devote her best efforts full-time to leadership, supervision and promotion of NC State’s athletic programs
  2. Be responsible for direction, interpretation and review of NC State’s intercollegiate athletic programs and policies
  3. Assure than NC State has plans, policies, procedures and programs that are in compliance with the bylaws of the ACC and the NCAA
  4. Understand, observe and uphold all academic standards, requirements and policies of NC State as well as the constitution and bylaws of the ACC and NCAA
  5. Use her best efforts to ensure that all academic standards, requirements and policies of NC State are observed including those in connection with recruiting and eligibility of perspective and current athletes
  6. Develop procedures and programs that assure the welfare of student-athletes
  7. Promote athletic excellence and a competitive program on local, conference and national levels for the men’s and women’s intercollegiate varsity sports programs
  8. Maintain and enforce any and all disciplinary policies and drug/alcohol policies of NC State
  9. Maintain effective relations with governing boards, associations conferences committees, alumni, students, faculty and staff
  10. Direct the athletic fundraising and marketing
  11. Coordinate and support activities that promote the SAA member and alumni participation through support of athletic-related events in Raleigh and at other locations in North Carolina and elsewhere
  12. Consult regularly with the Faculty Athletics Representative and the assistant Athletic Director for Compliance
  13. Submit reports, recommendations and supporting documentation to the Athletics Council and the Chancellor, as necessary
  14. Direct NC State’s intercollegiate athletic events and activities, including management of staff, maintenance and development of athletic facilities, responsibility for budget and other resources while operating in a sound fiscal manner
  15. Annually evaluate coaches and athletics staff
  16. Promote NC State’s commitment to equal opportunity and affirmative action and compliance with Title IX
  17. Perform such other duties as assigned from timt to time by the Chancellor

There have been a ton of opinions about this hire already, and we’re not even 24 hours into it. Some people hate it, others love it. Some people are taking the wait and see approach (I highly recommend this method) while others are too numb to care. Alpha Wolf got the ball rolling for SFN this afternoon with his thoughts on the hire. There will certainly be more to come in the next few days and weeks. In the interim, continue to check out the message forums to get more opinions on the Yow hire.

Stay tuned for more.

ACC & Other AD & Department Athletics Directors Debbie Yow

32 Responses to Yow makes good first impression

  1. john of sparta 06/28/2010 at 7:56 PM #

    elephant enters room.
    anyone?

  2. baxter 06/28/2010 at 8:27 PM #

    Coach T has said to some players that he is on his way out and wants to retire before he gets fired. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a new soccer coach vacancy soon.

  3. Wulfpack 06/28/2010 at 9:08 PM #

    “why did we have a search committee, when we did not utilize them”

    I don’t think anyone thought she’d be interested. Word got out and this happened very quickly. I think Woodson probably thought this was a no-brainer. Hope he still feels that way 5 years from now. We can’t afford to move in reverse any longer.

    “Ralph sucks and Gary, as talented as he is at raw coaching, would piss me off as a fan because he sucks balls at recruiting which last time I checked is just as important as coaching.”

    I have yet to meet a Maryland fan who doesn’t idolize Gary Williams. Sure, there were some mediocre years after his national championship. But he won 24 games and tied for first in the ACC this year. I think he’s put most of the criticism to bed.

  4. McCallum 06/28/2010 at 9:35 PM #

    I wonder if she is kin to Billy Yow from southern Guilford County?

    Billy was running against Howard Coble in the primary in that area. Billy is the only thing making sense in Guilford County these days and calls that sorry no good Skip Alston out every chance he gets.

    McCallum

  5. WolfEyes 06/29/2010 at 12:57 AM #

    The in-house search committee did not have Yow on their list of submitted candidates, but Woodson said that Parker Search Firm gave him Yow’s name, and he made the final decision. Since some on the search committee may have had a favorite candidate, he was smart not to reveal names the search firm gave him. Makes you wonder who else may have been on Parker Search Firm’s list?

  6. Derek Medlin 06/29/2010 at 8:56 AM #

    That’s a great question Wolf Eyes.

    I would be willing to bet there were some pretty big names being floated seeing as how Woodson said experience was the BIGGEST factor in the hire.

  7. MatSci94 06/29/2010 at 10:00 PM #

    Maybe the search committee was for Plan B?

    One aspect I haven’t heard anyone talk about…Yow’s base salary will be almost 50% higher than Fowler’s (350k vs 280k). Does this signal an end of the trend of ‘going cheap’ by the university? I sure hope so.

Leave a Reply